Bruce Springsteen Scores 11th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 | Billboard Bruce Springsteen Scores 11th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Danny Clinch Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen earns his 11th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 this week with the arrival of "High Hopes." The set, which Columbia Records released Jan. 14, sold 99,000 copies through the week ending Jan. 19, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With the No. 1 debut, Springsteen pulls ahead of Elvis Presley to stand alone as the act with the third-most No. 1s in the history of the Billboard 200. Ahead of both acts on the all-time list are the Beatles (with 19 No. 1s) and Jay Z (with 13). Related Articles Bruce Springsteen, 'High Hopes': Track-By-Track Review Springsteen's first No. 1 album was "The River," released in 1980. He has since followed it up with chart-toppers through the '80s, '90s, '00s and '10s.

Having already claimed a No. 1 in the 2010s (2012's "Wrecking Ball"), Springsteen remains the only act to have achieved No. 1 albums in each of the last four decades. "High Hopes" is Springsteen's first studio album (released since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking data in 1991) to debut with fewer than 100,000 copies. His SoundScan-era high came when 2002's "The Rising" powered through 525,000 copies in its first week, easily debuting at No. 1. "High Hopes" sold particularly strong with Internet retailers, thanks largely to Amazon.com. The company carried an exclusive CD/DVD version of the album, with the DVD sporting a full-length concert of Springsteen and his E Street Band performing the entire "Born in the U.S.A." album. Through Internet sellers, the physical version of "High Hopes" sold nearly 37,000 copies for the week -- the largest week for an album sold via the Internet since last May.

Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories" was the last biggest seller through the 'net, when it shifted 38,000 in its debut frame. That sum was largely due to Web-based orders of the vinyl LP version of the album. The vinyl set accounted for 12,000 of that 38,000 Internet total. (As for the vinyl version of "High Hopes," it sold a little more than 2,000 copies in its first week.) In total, "High Hopes" sold 74,000 physical copies last week, easily making it the week's top-selling physical album. On the digital side of things, "High Hopes" sold 26,000 downloads, the fourth-largest-selling digital album of the week. Last week's Billboard 200 No. 1, the soundtrack to Disney's "Frozen," slips to No. 2 to with 87,000 (though it's up 2% in sales). The album is in its eighth week on the list, and has spent the past three weeks locked in one of the top two rungs.

In turn,it's the first soundtrack to spend three weeks in the top two since May 2009, when "Hannah Montana: The Movie" spent seven nonconsecutive frames in the region. 'Frozen': The No. 1 Album That's Been Ignored By Radio The long-running "Kidz Bop" series collects its 18th top 10 album, as "Kidz Bop 25" bows at No. 3 with 76,000. The franchise, which features kid-friendly covers of popular songs, collects its 39th charting album in total with the arrival of "Kidz Bop 25." In addition to the 25 numbered albums, the "Kidz Bop" franchise has spawned themed collections like "Kidz Bop Christmas," "Kidz Bop Sings the Beatles" and "Kidz Bop Halloween Hits!" On our Kid Albums chart, which tracks the top-selling children’s albums of the week, "Kidz Bop 25" easily debuts at No. 1. It marks the 27th No.

1 on the chart for the "Kidz." The last numbered "Kidz" album, "Kidz Bop 24," arrived at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 last year (and No. 1 on Kid Albums) with 62,000 sold in its first week. Behind "Kidz" this week is Beyonce's self-titled album, which falls 2-4 with 61,000. Two more new entries arrive in the top 10: Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles with her solo debut, "That Girl," and rock band Switchfoot with "Fading West." The former starts at No. 5 with 54,000, while Switchfoot steps in at No. 6 with 39,000. As one-half of Sugarland (with singer/guitarist Kristian Bush), Nettles racked up six earlier albums on the Billboard 200, with three of them hitting No. 1. The pair topped the list with "Love on the Inside" in 2008, the live set "Live on the Inside" the following year and then "The Incredible Machine" in 2010.

Collectively, Sugarland's albums have sold 9.9 million copies in the United States, according to SoundScan. "That Girl" also arrives at No. 1 on the Country Albums chart. Meanwhile, Switchfoot garners its third top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with "Fading West." It's the act's highest-charting set since 2005's "Nothing Is Sound" debuted and peaked at No. 5. "Fading West" also gives the act its fifth No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart, following "Vice Verses," "Oh! Gravity," "Nothing Is Sound" and "The Beautiful Letdown." Lorde's "Pure Heroine" is up next on the Billboard 200 this week, dipping two slots to No. 7 with 31,000. Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" falls four rungs to No. 8 with 29,000 (down 19%), and Katy Perry's "PRISM" descends 7-9 with 22,000 (down 2%).

Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions" rounds out the top 10, falling one spot to No. 10 with 20,000 (though it's up by 17%). Over on the Digital Songs chart, Perry's "Dark Horse," featuring Juicy J, remains at No. 1 with 261,000 downloads sold (up 7%). Meanwhile, a Great Big World & Christina Aguilera's "Say Something" rises one spot to No. 2 with 208,000 (down 4%). Pitbull's "Timber,"featuring Ke$ha, drops 2-3 with 202,000 (down 11%), and Aloe Blacc's "The Man" rises 7-4 with 165,000 (up 19%). OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" descends 4-5 with 156,000 (down 15%) while Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty," featuring 2 Chainz, flies 18-6 with 148,000 (up 84%).

Eminem's "The Monster," featuring Rihanna, slides 5-7 with 136,000 (down 16%), Lorde's "Team" is stationary at No. 8 with 133,000 (up 7%), and Passenger's "Let Her Go" falls 6-9 with 130,000 (down 12%). Bastille's "Pompeii" closes out the top 10, falling one spot to No. 10, with 129,000 (up 4%). Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Jan. 19) totaled 4.4 million units, up 4% compared with the sum last week (4.3 million) and down 11% compared with the comparable sales week of 2013 (5 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 14.1 million, down 14% compared with the same total at this point last year (16.3 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 24.1 million downloads, down 6% compared with last week (25.6 million) and down 13% stacked next to the comparable week of 2013 (27.8 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 80.3 million, down 12% compared with the same total at this point last year (91.2 million). Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2013 when: Gary Allan's "Set You Free" debuted at No. 1 with 106,000 and the Lumineers' self-titled album jumped 7-2 with 50,000 (up 31%). Bruce Springsteen | Rolling Stone artists > B > Bruce Springsteen > Bio Bruce Springsteen Bio For nearly four decades Bruce Springsteen has been a working-class hero: a plainspoken visionary and a sincere romantic whose insights into everyday lives — especially in America's small-town heartland — have earned comparisons to John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie.

His belief in rock's mythic past (and its potential) revitalized pop music and made Springsteen a superstar in the Eighties. He maintained his enormous popularity into the 21st century, when he became even more of an outspoken political activist. Springsteen, of Irish-Italian ancestry, was born September 23, 1949, in Freehold, New Jersey, the son of a bus driver and a secretary. He took up the guitar at 13 and joined the Castiles a year later. In 1966 the Castiles recorded (but never released) two songs co-written by Springsteen, and they worked their way up to a string of dates at New York City's Café Wha? in 1967. During the summer after his high school graduation, Springsteen worked with the band Earth, a Cream-style power trio, and hung out in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He entered Ocean County Community College that fall, but dropped out when a New York producer promised him a contract; he never saw the producer again. While in college, Springsteen formed a group with some local musicians, including drummer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez and keyboardist Danny Federici.

Called Child, and then Steel Mill, the group worked the Atlantic coast down to Virginia. In summer 1969 Steel Mill visited California (where Springsteen's parents had moved); club dates in San Francisco led to a show at Bill Graham's Fillmore and a contract offer from Graham's Fillmore Records, which Steel Mill turned down because the advance was too small. The band returned east and was joined by an old friend of Springsteen's, Miami Steve Van Zandt, on bass. Springsteen disbanded Steel Mill in early 1971, intending to put together a band with a brass section and several singers. Meanwhile, he formed Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom, which played only three dates. Eventually, the Bruce Springsteen Band was formed with Lopez, Federici, Van Zandt (now on guitar), pianist and guitarist David Sancious, bassist Garry Tallent, and a four-piece brass section. After the group's first show, the brass section was dropped and Clarence Clemons, a football-player-turned-tenor-saxophonist (a knee injury aborted his pro career), joined the band. The group didn't last; by autumn 1971 Springsteen was working solo.

Springsteen had auditioned for Laurel Canyon Productions, a.k.a. Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, who had written a hit for the Partridge Family and produced an album by Sir Lord Baltimore. In May 1972 Springsteen signed a long-term management contract and an agreement giving Laurel Canyon exclusive rights to his songs. Royalty rates effective for five albums were set at a low three percent of retail price. Appel arranged for his new client to audition for John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to Columbia. After hearing Springsteen sing in his office, Hammond set up a showcase for CBS executives at the Gaslight in New York City and supervised a demo session. In June 1972 Columbia president Clive Davis signed a ten-album contract with Appel that gave Laurel Canyon about a nine percent royalty. Within the month, Springsteen completed Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Some of his word-crammed songs were set to an acoustic singer/songwriter backup, and others to the R&B-inflected rock of the reconstituted Bruce Springsteen Band.

Released in January 1973 and touted as one more "new Dylan" effort, Greetings initially sold about 25,000 copies, largely to Jersey Shore fans. Springsteen and the band toured the Northeast, playing extended sets that earned him followings in Boston and Philadelphia. A string of dates opening for Chicago, which limited his sets to a half-hour, convinced Springsteen not to open for other bands. With his second album, The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, Springsteen and his band integrated instrumental passages with his lyrics, forming long romantic narratives. The album sold as poorly as its predecessor, and Springsteen decided to concentrate on his stage show. Replacing Lopez with Ernest "Boom" Carter on drums, he tightened up what became the E Street Band, hired expensive light and sound crews, and rehearsed them to theatrical precision. He made up elaborate stories, often involving band members, to introduce his songs, dramatized the songs as he sang them, and capped his sets with fervently rendered oldies.

In spring 1974 music critic Jon Landau saw a Springsteen show in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and wrote in The Real Paper, "I saw rock & roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen." Columbia used the quote in an ad campaign, and rave reviews of Springsteen concerts and belated notices of The Wild began showing up in print. By November 1974, the album had sold 150,000 copies. Springsteen and a revamped E Street Band (pianist Roy Bittan and drummer Max Weinberg replaced Sancious and Carter, who had formed their own fusion group, Tone; Van Zandt joined as second guitarist) were bogged down by an ambitious third album. Landau, who had been visiting the studio with suggestions, became co-producer with Springsteen and Appel (Landau would later become the singer's manager). Far from toning down Springsteen's histrionics, he inflated them with dramatic arrangements. While the album was being mastered, Springsteen wanted to scrap it in favor of a concert album.

But that plan was dropped, and in October 1975 Born to Run (Number Three, 1975) hit record shelves. Advance sales put the album on the chart a week before its release date, and it made the Top Ten shortly afterward. Within the month, it hit Number Three — and gold – while "Born to Run" (Number 23, 1975) became Springsteen's first hit single. Springsteen embarked on his first national tour. Time and Newsweek ran simultaneous cover stories on him. Yet Springsteen was still a cult figure; the album didn't stay on the charts long. In spring of 1976 an independent auditor's report called Appel's management "unconscionable exploitation." And when Appel refused permission for Landau to produce the next album, Springsteen sued his manager in July 1976, alleging fraud, undue influence, and breach of trust. Appel's countersuit asked for an injunction to bar Springsteen from working with Landau, which the court granted. Springsteen rejected the producer Appel chose, and the injunction prevented Springsteen from recording until May 1977.

An out-of-court settlement gave Springsteen rights to his songs and he was allowed to work with Landau, while his Columbia contract was upgraded. Appel reportedly received a lump-sum settlement. During the legal imbroglio, Springsteen toured and E Streeters did session work: Bittan with David Bowie and Meat Loaf, Van Zandt produced the debut by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, I Don't Want to Go Home, which featured several Springsteen compositions. Other Springsteen songs provided hits for the Hollies ("Sandy"), Manfred Mann ("Blinded by the Light," a Number One single in 1977), Robert Gordon ("Fire," later a smash for the Pointer Sisters), and Patti Smith ("Because the Night," to which she contributed some lyrics). And Springsteen continued to write new songs, several of which were chosen for Darkness on the Edge of Town (Number Five, 1978). Darkness was a dire and powerful album that reflected the troubled period Springsteen had just endured. On "Badlands," "Promised Land," "Adam Raised a Cain," and the title track, Springsteen sang with choked emotion about working-class problems and the hopes that keep Americans going.

The album proved his depth to critics, although it failed to deliver on crossover hopes, yielding only the minor single "Prove It All Night" (Number 33, 1978). Work on The River began in April 1979 and went on for a year and a half. Springsteen appeared on stage only twice in that period, at the Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) antinuclear benefit concerts in New York, which were filmed as No Nukes. Meanwhile, Dave Marsh's best-selling Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story was released, spreading the Springsteen legend out in book length. (It was released again in a revised edition, followed by a second Marsh volume, Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s, published in 1987; the books were put together with additional material in 2003 as Two Hearts: The Definitive Biography.) Co-produced by Springsteen, Landau, and Van Zandt, the double-LP The River (Number One, 1980) sold over 2 million copies.

A single, "Hungry Heart" (Number Five, 1980), was Springsteen's first Top Ten hit, followed by "Fade Away" (Number 20, 1981). The River was notable for its shorter, verse-chorus songs that were essentially short stories or character sketches ("Wreck on the Highway," "Independence Day," "Point Blank," "The River"). These four songs essentially revealed a sense of resignation, of Springsteen's characters learning to live with what they cannot change. On the eve of The River's release in October 1980, Springsteen kicked off a tour that crisscrossed the United States twice and took him to more than 20 European cities; every one of his shows was sold out and routinely ran over three hours, sometimes crossing the four-hour mark. In the fall, he played six benefit concerts in L.A. for Vietnam War veterans. In 1981 Springsteen persuaded Gary "U.S." Bonds (whose "Quarter to Three" was a favorite Springsteen encore) to return to recording, on an album produced by Van Zandt that included Springsteen material.

Members of the E Street Band played sessions for Garland Jeffreys, Joan Armatrading, Ian Hunter, and others. Van Zandt continued producing Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, and Bittan produced an album for rock singer Jimmy Mack. In 1982 Springsteen made Nebraska (Number Three, 1982), a stark album recorded (initially as demo tapes) on a four-track machine at home. With its tales of losers, desperadoes, and dreamers, the album was Springsteen's folk-song commentary on the social problems of America in the Age of Reagan, and on the nihilism bred by alienation. After Nebraska's deliberately noncommercial statement, Springsteen decided to head in the other direction and try to bring his message to a mass audience. With the simple, declarative songs on Born in the U.S.A. (Number One, 1984), Springsteen became a megastar.

The album yielded a string of singles – "Dancing in the Dark" (Number Two, 1984), "Cover Me" (Number Seven, 1984), "Born in the U.S.A." (Number Nine, 1984), "I'm on Fire" (Number Six, 1985), "Glory Days" (Number Five, 1985), "I'm Goin' Down" (Number Nine, 1985), and "My Hometown" (Number Six, 1985) — and remained in the Top Ten for more than two years. Springsteen made his first videos for the album's singles, including "Glory Days," "I'm on Fire," and "Born in the U.S.A.", directed by John Sayles, and "Dancing in the Dark," directed by Brian De Palma (the single later won a Grammy). Although on Born in the U.S.A., Springsteen continued to look at the dark side of the American dream, he simplified sentiments and packaged them in an album featuring a U.S. flag on the cover.

Not surprisingly, many fans took "Born in the U.S.A." as an upbeat patriotic anthem, although the song was actually about the dead ends hit by a Vietnam vet. Ronald Reagan himself, during the 1984 presidential campaign, tried to co-opt Springsteen's vision as his own in one speech. Springsteen attempted to counteract such misinterpretations by meeting with labor, environmental, and civil rights activists in towns he played and mentioning their efforts onstage. Springsteen has always played numerous benefits; in 1985 he sang on USA for Africa's "We Are the World" and on Van Zandt's anti-apartheid project, Sun City. But the Born in the U.S.A. concerts themselves fueled the spectacle of Springsteen's success, with fans waving American flags in sold-out stadiums. The previously scrawny, modest Springsteen had joined the country's mania for pumping iron, and his marathon concerts began to resemble athletic events. Constant touring in 1985 (with Nils Lofgren replacing Van Zandt, who went on to pursue a solo career, and Patti Scialfa added on vocals) took him to the Far East and Australia for the first time.

The 40-song live album package Live/1975-85 (Number One, 1986) was released partly to counter the flood of bootlegs that had been traded among fans for years. It featured his cover of Edwin Starr's "War" (Number Eight, 1986), a song whose critique he explicitly aimed in concerts at Reagan's militarism. In 1984 Springsteen met model/actress Julianne Phillips, and the couple married in May 1985. On Tunnel of Love (Number One, 1987) Springsteen recorded some of his most personal songs — including the Grammy-winning "Tunnel of Love" (Number Nine, 1987), "Brilliant Disguise" (Number Five, 1987), and "One Step Up" (Number 13, 1988) — in which he detailed love unraveling. While he was headlining the 1988 Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour, tabloids began reporting that Springsteen and Scialfa were having an affair. In August 1988 Phillips filed for divorce.

The couple divorced the next year, and Springsteen married Scialfa in 1991. They moved to L.A. and eventually had three children, Evan James, Jessica Rae, and Sam Ryan. Springsteen was apparently rethinking his life in general during this period. On the Tunnel of Love tour he had tried to shake up the E Street Band's live habits by repositioning them onstage. Still, the large group no longer seemed to be the correct vehicle for his music, and in November 1989 he told them he no longer needed them. After half a decade without a new studio album, Springsteen returned with the simultaneous release of two, Human Touch (Number Two, 1992) (co-produced by Bittan, the only E Street Band member on the albums) and Lucky Town (Number Three, 1992). The albums entered the charts at their peak positions, but merely went platinum as opposed to the multi-platinum of his previous three albums. The pop songs of Human Touch, which Springsteen had written over several years, received mixed reviews: critics generally preferred Lucky Town's ruminations on parenting and adulthood.

Springsteen performed on Saturday Night Live in 1992, his first network TV performance. He recruited a younger band of mostly session musicians for his tour, but hadn't quite freed himself of his old, overstated stadium style, and the shows seemed somewhat out of step with the albums' mature tone. For the first time in 15 years, Springsteen played to empty seats. In 1993, Scialfa released her first solo album, Rumble Doll; that year Springsteen wrote and recorded "Streets of Philadelphia" (Number Nine, 1994) for the Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia; the song won an Academy Award and four Grammys. Greatest Hits, which debuted at Number One on the charts, contained four previously unreleased songs. In 1995 Springsteen released The Ghost of Tom Joad, an austere record in the tradition of Nebraska that invoked the populism of Steinbeck and Guthrie and applied it to problems of race and class in America at the end of the 20th century. The album, which Springsteen promoted with his first solo acoustic tour, won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, although it didn't go platinum, a rarity.

After that Springsteen maintained a low profile until the November 1998 announcement of his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That same week saw the release of Songs, a coffee-table book containing his song lyrics, as well as Tracks (Number 27), a career-spanning collection that included 56 previously unreleased recordings. The album became the first box set ever to debut at Number One on the charts. In 1999 Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited for the first time in more than a decade; both Lofgren and Van Zandt played guitar in the group, which kicked off their U.S. tour with a record-setting 15 sold-out shows at the Continental Airlines Arena in the group's home state of New Jersey. The band's performances testified to Springsteen's faith in the redemptive power of rock & roll and the human community.

At a run of 10 shows at Madison Square Garden in summer 2000, Springsteen also performed "American Skin (41 Shots)," a song that explores what happens when community breaks down — in this case, when New York City police officers shot at West African immigrant Amadou Diallo 41 times while he was reaching for his wallet to show them his ID. Two of the New York performances were documented on a 2001 HBO special and live album Live in New York City, which debuted at Number 5. Springsteen addressed the 9/11 attacks — and America's reaction to them — in great detail on The Rising (Number One, 2002). Produced by Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam), it was his first album of new material in seven years. Hailed by critics and fans as Springsteen's return to form — he sang compassionately to the confusion, loss, hope and faith of fearful New Yorkers and average Americans in general — The Rising sold more than 520,000 copies its first week out. In 2004, angered by the George W.

Bush administration's war policy, Springsteen teamed with artists including R.E.M., Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks for the "Vote for Change" tour, which explicitly supported Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Springsteen had never directly endorsed a specific candidate before and it created some controversy among his fans. Devils & Dust followed in 2005, the latest in Springsteen's occasional string of downbeat acoustic albums, its songs dealing with topics like immigration and the Iraq War. Like its predecessor, it debuted at Number One and won a Grammy for Best Solo Rock Vocal for the title track. During his Grammy appearance he performed the song and at the end said, "Bring 'em home," referring to the American troops overseas. Springsteen returned quickly, releasing We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, on which he covered protest and folk songs by the legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger. Performances from the tour with Springsteen fronting the aptly named Seeger Sessions Band were released a year later as Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin.

The fall of 2007 brought another Number One album, Magic, Springsteen's most accessible collection since Tunnel of Love, and more big-venue touring with the E Street Band, who appeared on the album. Now more politically active than ever in his career, Springsteen announced his endorsement of U.S. Senator Barack Obama in April 2008. That November, the Obama campaign played "The Rising" after the new president-elect's victory speech in Chicago. Springsteen released Working on a Dream (Number One) in January 2009, and later that month performed "The Rising" and "This Land is Your Land" (with Seeger) at President Obama's inaugural celebration. In December 2009, Springteen received the Kennedy Center Honors. The ceremony included tribute performances of his work by Sting, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge and Ben Harper, as well as a speech by Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart. Referencing Springsteen's work ethic and heart, Stewart said: "He empties the tank, every time.

He empties that tank for his family, he empties that tank for his art, he empties that tank for his audience and he empties that tank for his country." Portions of this biography appeared in The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001). Mark Kemp contributed to this article. 10 Things You Never Knew About... Bruce Springsteen | Features | Clash Magazine 10 Things You Never Knew About... Bruce Springsteen New Jersey’s most iconic musician Admin Admin / / 17 · 12 · 2010 0 As ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ is reissued, we delve into the past of New Jersey’s most iconic musician: Bruce Springsteen. 1. He’s now known all around the world, but Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen, born on September 23rd 1949, cut his teeth in numerous bands such as The Castiles, Earth, Steel Mill and Dr Zoom And The Sonic Boom for a decade before the first incarnation of the now-legendary E Street Band formed in 1972. 2.

Although Springsteen - nicknamed ‘The Boss’ - has been synonymous with New Jersey’s Asbury Park since the release of his 1973 debut album, ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ’, he’s actually from Freehold, a small town about fifteen miles to the west. 3. In 1968, Springsteen was drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War. However, days before his physical exam, he went out with some friends and stayed up the entire night and then got the bus with them to take the exam. He failed. 4. For much of his career, Springsteen has performed with the E Street Band, but they’ve never actually been credited on any of his studio albums. Instead, they’ve been listed as individuals. However, they were given full billing on ‘Live/1975-85’, a decade-spanning collection of live songs, and all subsequent live CDs and DVDs. 5. The iconic, anthemic ‘Born In The USA’ song actually started life as a gentle acoustic number he recorded as part of a demo tape that would eventually evolve into 1982’s ‘Nebraska’.

Springsteen wrote a note to his manager Jon Landau about the song, saying that it “might have potential”. 6. After the phenomenal success - thirty million sales and counting - of 1984’s ‘Born In The USA’ album, one economist actually blamed the October 1987 stock market crash on the (relatively) poor sales of his follow-up album, ‘Tunnel Of Love’, which was released ten days before Black Monday. 7. Springsteen’s faltering relationship with first wife, actress Julianne Phillips, was the subject of ‘Tunnel Of Love’. They divorced in 1989, after Springsteen began an affair with E Street backing singer Patti Scialfa. They married in 1991 and have two children. 8. Springsteen has never had a Number One single in America or the UK. 1994’s ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ reached number two in the British charts, while ‘Dancing In The Dark’ hit the same position on the Billboard Charts in 1984. However, Manfred Mann’s cover of ‘Blinded By The Light’ reached the Billboard top spot in February 1977. 9.

He is one of the most heavily bootlegged artists of all time, and there are Brucelegs - as his fans call them - dating all the way back to a 1966 studio session he recorded with The Castiles, which was never officially released. 10. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Springsteen campaigned fervently for Barack Obama. The following December, he was presented with a Kennedy Center award. “I’m the President,” said Obama as he introduced the musician, “but he’s the boss.” Bruce Springsteen | Biography, News, Photos and Videos | Contactmusic.com News Pictures Video Film Music Press Festival Comments Quotes RSS Biography Bruce Springsteen (born 23.9.1949) Bruce Springsteen is an American singer / songwriter, known affectionately among his fans as 'The Boss'. He has won many Grammy Awards and an Academy Award. His most famous albums are Born to Run and Born In The USA. Net Worth: The musician has a net worth of $300 million according to Celebrity Net Worth in 2016. Childhood: Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, to Douglas F.

Springsteen (a bus driver with a dual Dutch / Irish heritage) and Adele A. Zirilli (a legal secretary of Irish heritage). He has two sisters: Virginia (older) and Pamela (younger). Springsteen was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended the St. Rose of Lima school and then transferred to Freehold High School. Springsteen graduated from high school but skipped his graduation ceremony, as he had felt so out of place at the school. When Bruce Springsteen was seven years old, he saw Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show and it was this that made him want to take up music. He bought his first guitar for $18 when he was 13. Later, Springsteen became the lead guitarist in the local band, The Castiles and the band made a handful of original recordings. Early Musical Career: Between 1969 and '71, Bruce played in the band Steel Mill (originally called Child) with Steve Van Zandt, Danny Federici and Vini Lopez. Over these two formative years, however, Springsteen played with a number of outfits, and drew a following in the Jersey Shore and Asbury Park areas.

The bands included Dr Zoom and the Sonic Boom, Sundance Blues band and The Bruce Springsteen Band. Springsteen's prolific songwriting, which encompassed a number of genres including blues, jazz and rock 'n' roll, came to the attention of music managers Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos and John Hammond, the now-legendary Columbia Records scout. Hammond auditioned Springsteen in 1972. Commercial Breakthrough: In 1972, Bruce Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia Records. A number of his New Jersey band mates entered the studio with him (they later became known as the E-Street band) and his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was released in 1973. The album was heavily compared to Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. Springsteen's second album, The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle was released later the same year. The critics looked favourably on the album but it achieved little commercial success. However, songs like 'Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)' became live favourites with his fans.

In 1975, the band's five night, 10-show run at the Bottom Line club in New York, garnered a lot of press attention. Later that year, the album Born To Run was released. The album was given a huge budget, as a last-ditch attempt for Springsteen to achieve mass commercial success. The singles, 'Born To Run' and 'Thunder Road' achieved huge commercial success. Over the next few years, Springsteen toured with the E-Street band, but a legal feud with ex-manager Mike Appel kept him out of the studio and unable to record new music. Eventually, an agreement was reached and Springsteen returned to the studio, to record Darkness On The Edge of Town in 1978. 'Badlands' and 'The Promised Land' showed Bruce's political edge and became live favourites for years to come. Springsteen earned a reputation as a songwriter that could provide popular hits for other musicians. Notable, he co-wrote Patti Smith's 'Because The Night' as well as The Pointer Sisters version of his unreleased track, 'Fire', which earned them a number two single.

In 1980, Springsteen released a 20-sing double album entitled The River. The album was a commercial success and a huge arena tour of the US followed its release. Following this huge success, Springsteen surprised many people by releasing Nebraska, a solemn acoustic album, in 1982. The songs started life as demos for a new band album but during the recording process, it was decided that they would work better as solo songs. The album was names 'Album of the Year' by Rolling Stone magazine. Springsteen's next album is probably his best known. Born In The USA (1984) sold over 15 million copies in the US alone. It is now one of the best-selling albums of all time. Seven singles released from the album were top 10 hits. The commercial success that he enjoyed around this time was boosted by the release of Live 1975-85, which sold over 13 million units in the US and was the first box set to debut at the top of the US album charts. The Tunnel Of Love was released in 1987 and brought with another major tour schedule.

His first marriage to Julianne Phillips had broken up and his relationship with backing singer Patti Scialfa became public knowledge. The couple married in 1991 and now have three children, Evan James (b.1990), Jessica Rae (b.19991) and Sam Ryan (b.1994). Amidst heavy criticism for moving to LA and using session musicians, Bruce Springsteen released the albums Human Touch and Lucky Town in 1992. In 1995, he released his second solo album, entitled The Ghost Of Tom Joad. The album was less well acclaimed than Nebraska and Springsteen had to ask his audiences to be quiet during the tour performances that accompanied the release of the album. Four years later, the E-Street Band enjoyed a reformation and embarked upon the 'Reunion Tour', which lasted over a year. The tour ended with a massive 10-night sell-out at Madison Square Gardens. The final performances were released on the Live In New York City DVD. The band's first full studio output in 18 years was released in 2002. The Rising was largely a reflection on the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York.

The band played 10 nights in the Giants Stadium in New Jersey and the Rising tour culminated with three nights in Shea Stadium. As a tribute to Joe Strummer of The Clash, Springsteen performed 'London calling' at the Grammy Awards of 2003. Fellow performers included Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl and Steven Van Zandt. Another solo acoustic album was released in 2005: Devils & Dust. The album was hugely popular in Europe though ticket sales for his live shows were disappointing elsewhere. The next year, Springsteen released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, which was an exploration of the American roots music popularized by Pete Seeger. The E-Street band was drafted back in for Springsteen's 2007 release, Magic. The album debuted at number one in the UK and Ireland, selling 563,000 copies worldwide in its first week. In April 2008, long-time organist with the E-Street band, Danny Federici passed away, following a three-year battle with a melanoma.

Clarence Clemons was a founding member of E Street band and sadly died on the 18th June 2011 due to complications of a stroke. Bruce Springsteen said [Clarence] loved the saxophone and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. Springsteen released his 17th studio album Wrecking Ball in March, 2012 consisting of eleven tracks, the release of this album was promptly followed by the release of the Wrecking Ball Tour which began in the same month and went on to be one of Bruce's most successful. Rolling Stone named Wrecking Ball the number one album in their 2012 top album list. In 2014 Springsteen released his eighteenth studio album High Hopes which features either covers or re-recordings of certain songs. This album marks Springsteen's 11th no.1 album in the US and his 10th in the UK. Personal Life: Springsteen got married to his long term girlfriend Patti Scialfa in 1991 who he met at The Stone Pony, which is a bar in New Jersey where local musicians perform.

The couple have three children, Evan James Springsteen (1990), Jessica Rae Springsteen (1991) and Samuel Ryan Springsteen (1994). The family moved back to New Jersey so that they could raise their family in an environment free from the media. Springsteen is also an activist for LGBT rights and has spoken out numerous times to show his support for gay marriage in the US. Biography by Contactmusic.com Song of the Day: Bruce Springsteen – Bobby Jean | Rocknuts Song of the Day: Bruce Springsteen – Bobby Jean Share the love, rockers... On this day in 1985, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the U.K. Album Chart for the first time with Born in the U.S.A. The album had been out since its U.S. release date of June 4, 1984 and had already been a smash elsewhere. Seven of the 12 songs on the album were released as singles (all reached the Top 10), and the five that weren’t were still pretty great. This is one of those five, but even though it wasn’t released as a single, it reached No.

36 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart anyway. It’s a very Springsteen-esque anthem punctuated by a killer sax solo.

Question: What was Bruce Springsteen's first number one album in the U.K.
Answer: Born in the U.S.A.